I am troubled this morning by my complacency. Turning pages toward the end of the novel, “[The Covenant of Water],” by Abraham Verghese, a deep dive into life in India and the caste system there, I fought sleep thinking about the many things I take for granted.
Entitlement is a snare. This morning, I am awake and thanking God for health, family, home, work … and praying for eyes, ears, mouth, heart, hands and feet that are inclined to others more than myself.
Of India, I remember our daughter’s first truly adult decision. Midway through the vaccination regime for a study trip there in college, she called from a coffeehouse to say she would not go. “I’m not healthy enough.”
We are not healthy enough for anything in life. The Covenant of Water leads me to remember that only by the grace of God do I get up to put my hand to the next thing. And only in him can I find the rise and fall and sway of my life.
The American revivalist Jonathan Edwards said “God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied …”
